Through a Chinese-language website the country is seeking supplies of plastic and electronic waste which "can be processed in the port but which other countries and territories are restricted from dealing in", reflecting the country's dire economic plight and its scant regard for international norms.

North Korea appears to have been inspired by neighbouring China, which is itself a major importer of toxic waste and is one of North Korea's few close friends.

Greenpeace China, based in Hong Kong, reported this month that it had intercepted a container of electronic waste bound for the Chinese city of Sanshui in Guangdong province and that its import was contrary to Chinese law.

Greenpeace says that every year some 20m - 50m tonnes of dangerous electronic waste are generated worldwide, much of it ending up in the scrapyards and dumping grounds of developing countries in Asia and Africa.

China's toxic waste recycling industry is based in Guiyu, not far from Sanshui, where some 60,000 people are reported to be engaged in recycling computer parts, creating appalling air and water pollution.

Isolated and desperately poor, North Korea is a beginner so far as toxic waste is concerned, although in 1996 it signed a deal with Taiwan to dispose of its nuclear waste from atomic power plants.

South Korea reacted furiously to the deal and Taiwan was eventually forced to back down and cancel the agreement.

North Korea also offered to recycle the North Sea Brent Spar oil storage platform, which Royal Dutch Shell had proposed dumping in the deep Atlantic in 1995.

This caused an environmental furore, with Greenpeace claiming that the structure was full of oil and burying it at sea would result in serious pollution.

An enterprising young North Korean official in London unexpectedly offered to come to the rescue, suggesting that his country could dispose of the structure, saving Shell and the British government from further embarrassment.

The offer was turned down as Shell didn't want to be seen turning to a regime as dubious as North Korea, but Greenpeace's own reputation took a serious knock when it was forced to admit that it had enormously over-estimated the amount of oil remaining in Brent Spar's storage tanks.

North Korea's waste recycling plans are part of a much bigger, £5 million ($10 million) project to enlarge a port on its west coast and develop it into an export base including a duty-free zone.

"There are no limits, any business taking advantage of [North] Korea's low labour costs for intensive processing is welcome," the website states.

Although the port is not named, it is almost certainly Nampo, which is close to the capital and is the largest harbour on North Korea's west coast. The development covers 30,000 square metres (320,000 square feet) and is "expandable".

The port currently accepts vessels of up to 10,000 tonnes but the plan is to increase this to 50,000 tonnes.

The project is pitched at Chinese companies, and interested parties are asked to contact a firm in the Chinese city of Dandong on the North Korean border.

A deal with China would help to counterbalance a recent agreement with state-owned Russian Railways to build a £50 million ($100million) container terminal on North Korea's east coast as part of a £1.5 billion ($3 billion) plan to create a rail corridor linking South Korea with Europe via North Korea and Russia.

An agreement was signed between President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2001 and after lengthy delays a deal on the container terminal was reached in April.

Russian Railways wants to turn the port of Rajin into a hub capable of handling 320,000 containers a year for shipment from South Korea to Europe.

Russia and China have fought bitterly over rights to refurbish Rajin. A few years ago China appeared to have won out when a 50-year deal was announced with the Chinese border city of Hunchun, but this came to nought and Russia was the ultimate winner in the battle to revitalise the north-eastern port and ultimately link it with Europe.